Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball validly will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.
Table tennis is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of two, players take alternating turns returning a light, hollow ball over the table's net onto the opposing half of the court using small rackets until they fail to do so, which results in a point for the opponent. Play is fast, requiring quick reaction and constant attention, and is characterized by an emphasis on spin relative to other ball sports, which can heavily affect the ball's trajectory.
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since Tokyo 1964. Beach volleyball was introduced to the programme at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics. The adapted version of volleyball at the Summer Paralympic Games is sitting volleyball.
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United States, formerly royal tennis in England and Australia, and courte-paume in France. Many French real tennis courts are at jeu de paume clubs.
Rugby fives is a handball game, similar to squash, played in an enclosed court. It has similarities with Winchester fives and Eton fives. It is played mainly in the United Kingdom.
American handball, known as handball in the United States and sometimes referred to as wallball, is a sport in which players use their hands to hit a small, rubber ball against a wall such that their opponent(s) cannot do the same without the ball touching the ground twice or hitting out-of-bound. The three versions are four-wall, three-wall and one-wall. Each version can be played either by two players (singles), three players (cutthroat) or four players (doubles), but in official tournaments, singles and doubles are the only versions played.
Squash tennis is an American variant of squash, but played with a ball and racquets that are closer to the equipment used for lawn tennis, and with somewhat different rules. For younger players the game offers the complexity of squash and the speed of racquetball. It also has exercise and recreational potential for older players.
Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport where two (singles) or four (doubles) players hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball with paddles over a 34-inch-high (0.86 m) net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits an infraction. Pickleball is played indoors and outdoors. It was invented in 1965 as a children's backyard game in the United States, on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. In 2022, pickleball was named the official state sport of Washington.
A point in tennis is the smallest subdivision of the match. A point can consist of a double fault by the server, in which case the point is automatically won by the receiver. In all other cases, a point begins when a legal serve is hit by the server to the receiver on the opposite side of the court, and continues until one side fails to legally return the ball to the opposite side. Whichever side fails to do so loses the point and their opponent wins it.
This page is a glossary of tennis terminology.
Konami's Ping Pong is a sports arcade game created in 1985 by Konami. It is the first video game to accurately reflect the gameplay of table tennis, as opposed to earlier simplifications like Pong. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Famicom Disk System, MSX, and ZX Spectrum.
Beer pong is a drinking game loosely based on ping pong that involves the use of paddles to hit a ping pong ball into cups on the opposing side. The origin of beer pong is generally credited to Dartmouth College.
Traditionally, tennis is played between two people in a singles match, or two pairs in a doubles match. Tennis can also be played on different courts, including grass courts, clay courts, hard courts, and artificial grass courts.
Family Table Tennis is a table tennis video game developed by Arc System Works for the Wii and Nintendo 3DS. It was released as a WiiWare launch title in Japan on March 25, 2008, and on May 26, 2008 in North America at a cost of 500 Wii Points. In the PAL regions, it was released on March 13, 2009 at a cost of 800 Wii Points.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to tennis. Tennis is a sport usually played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a specialized racquet that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court.
A serve in tennis is a shot to start a point. A player will hit the ball with a racquet so it will fall into the diagonally opposite service box without being stopped by the net. Normally players begin a serve by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it. The ball can only touch the net on a return and will be considered good if it falls on the opposite side. If the ball contacts the net on the serve but then proceeds to the proper service box, it is called a let; this is not a legal serve in the major tours although it is also not a fault. Players normally serve overhead; however serving underhand is allowed. The serve is the only shot a player can take their time to set up instead of having to react to an opponent's shot; however, as of 2012, there is a 25-second limit to be allowed between points.
Blip is a tabletop electro-mechanical game marketed by Tomy starting in 1977 in the United States. The system can play a two-player game that is very similar to Atari's video game Pong, and a single-player game. In Germany, the system was sold under the name Blip-o-Mat. In Japan, the game was marketed as World Tennis.
Paddle-ball is a sport that is played on a court half the size of a tennis court, using paddle racquets amongst two players or in doubles with two teams consisting of two players. The Paddle-ball paddle is made of wood or graphite and has holes for less air friction. Below are the instructions for single games.
Roundnet is a ball game created in 1989 by Jeff Knurek, inspired primarily by concepts from volleyball. The game is played between two teams, usually with two players each. Players initially line up around a small trampoline-like net at the start of a point and starts with a serve from one team to another. Teams alternate hitting the ball back to the net.
Ping pong with obstacles, or Pingpongo, is a sport that consists of a variation of ping pong or traditional table tennis, by adding material and/or mental obstacles. It was created in Argentina in 2010 but is also officially played since 2013 in Norway and Uruguay.
